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Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett: How to Understand Emotions

Huberman Lab

Sun Oct 15 2023



Andrew Huberman Introduction:

  • Dr. Andrew Huberman is a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.
  • He introduces the guest, Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, as a distinguished professor of psychology at Northeastern University.
  • Dr. Barrett is considered one of the top world experts in the study of emotions.

Discussion on Emotions:

  • There has been a debate for 150 years about what exactly constitutes an emotion.
  • Traditional view: Emotions are coordinated responses with specific physical changes, facial expressions, and physiological changes in the body.
  • Dr. Barrett argues that these definitions do not accurately capture the complexity and variability of emotional experiences.
  • Emotions are highly variable groupings of instances that depend on individual situations and goals.
  • Facial expressions do not have universal meanings; cultural context plays a significant role in interpreting them.

Language and Emotional Understanding:

  • Language is important but insufficient to understand our own emotional states and effectively communicate them to others.
  • Start with an examination of the nervous system's structure, evolution, and anatomy instead of relying solely on personal experience or common sense categories.
  • The brain constructs categories based on past experiences to reduce uncertainty in understanding emotions.
  • Language labels emotions but does not capture their full complexity or range.

Context and Decision Making:

  • The brain makes decisions about similarity based on context and the features that are similar.
  • Context is important in determining how the brain perceives and categorizes information.
  • The brain dynamically processes information over time, constantly narrowing down possibilities.

Emotions and Language:

  • Emotions are created by the brain as a result of integrating signals from the body and the environment.
  • Facial expressions play a role in emotions and can be used to cue others about what is important or not.
  • Language descriptions of emotions can vary across cultures and individuals, but they serve as summaries of sensory-motor patterns.

The Brain as a Signal Processor:

  • The brain acts as a signal processor, assembling features from sensory surfaces into higher-level summaries.
  • These summaries become more abstract as they move through different areas of the brain.
  • Compression gradients occur in neural architecture, reducing dimensionality while maintaining key features.

Understanding Emotion Through Action Preparation:

  • Emotions are recipes for action, with motor plans being prepared first before feelings emerge.
  • Sensory predictions are generated based on these motor plans, shaping our experience of the world.
  • Labels for emotions are constructed by the brain to make sense of sensory signals and guide future actions.

Flexibility in Dealing with Emotions:

  • Whether to feel emotions or use words depends on the situation and individual goals.
  • Sometimes it is useful to feel emotions fully, while other times it may be more productive to shift attention or engage in physical activities.
  • Flexibility in experiencing emotions allows for adaptability and learning from discomfort.

The Relationship Between Emotions and Affect:

  • Affect, or mood, is a low-dimensional summary of the sensory signals coming from the body.
  • Affect is always present in our experience, whether it's in the foreground or background.
  • Emotions are constructed stories that explain the sensory changes that affect derives from.

Using Knowledge to Work with Emotions:

  • Understanding how emotions and affect work can provide valuable insight into managing our emotional states.
  • The ability to label and categorize emotions allows for more flexibility in responding to them.
  • Shifting attention, engaging in physical activities, or seeking information can help regulate emotions based on individual goals.

The Complexity of Emotional Experience:

  • Emotions have more dimensionality than we often realize, and their meaning can be shaped by our interpretation.
  • Different individuals may encode and interpret emotions differently based on their unique experiences and cultural backgrounds.
  • The brain's constant regulation of the body influences our emotional state, but this process is not always conscious.

Applying Knowledge to Daily Life:

  • Recognizing that discomfort can be instructive rather than trying to eliminate it entirely.
  • Developing strategies to change the meaning of bodily sensations through language or action planning.
  • Using knowledge about emotions to make more informed decisions and respond adaptively to different situations.

Emotion and Sensory Condition of the Body:

  • Emotions can be influenced by deliberately focusing on different sensory conditions of the body, such as the heart rate, breathing, or muscle tension.
  • Shifting attention to different sensory aspects of the body can change the dimensionality of one's experience.
  • Oliver Sacks explored animal sensory experiences to gain insight into how patients with neurological disorders perceive the world.

Affect and Reality:

  • Affect is a quick summary of the state of one's body budget based on the brain's beliefs about the metabolic state of the body.
  • Reality includes both external signals from the world and internal signals from our own bodies.
  • Different animals have different sensory surfaces and detect signals in their reality that may not interact with our reality.

Depression as a Metabolic Illness:

  • Depression can be understood as a metabolic illness characterized by deficits in energy and resources needed for optimal functioning.
  • Symptoms align with having metabolic deficits, such as glucose regulation or oxygen utilization.
  • Anticipation of positive events may be diminished in depression due to an overall negative affective state caused by metabolic deficits.

Affect Regulation:

  • Good sleep, exercise, nutrition (eating real food), sunlight exposure, social connection, and acts of kindness are key factors for regulating affect.
  • Sleep is foundational for mental and physical health.
  • Acts of kindness provide a body budgeting benefit and contribute to positive affect.

The Role of Social Connection:

  • Humans regulate each other's nervous systems, and trust among team members predicts performance in work settings.
  • Social isolation and loneliness have negative effects on affect and well-being.
  • Kindness towards others generates a savings effect in body budgets.

The Role of SSRIs:

  • SSRIs increase serotonin levels in synapses to help regulate mood but may deplete neural circuits associated with enhanced mood over time for some individuals.
  • Efficacy depends on individual metabolic factors and underlying causes of depressive symptoms.

Affect, Allostasis & Body Budget Analogy:

  • Affect, or mood, is a low-dimensional summary of the sensory signals coming from the body.
  • Affect reflects the brain's beliefs about the metabolic state of the body and its resources.
  • The brain constantly regulates the body to maintain homeostasis through a process called allostasis.
  • Different emotions can be seen as different states within the overall affective landscape.

Depression, "Emotional Flu":

  • Depression can be understood as a metabolic illness characterized by deficits in energy and resources needed for optimal functioning.
  • Symptoms align with having metabolic deficits, such as glucose regulation or oxygen utilization.
  • Metabolic deficits lead to an overall negative affective state, diminishing anticipation of positive events.

Tool: Positively Shift Affect; Alcohol & Drugs; SSRIs:

  • Shifting affect towards positivity can be achieved through various means.
  • Alcohol and drugs may provide temporary relief but have long-term negative consequences on mood regulation.
  • SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) increase serotonin levels in synapses to help regulate mood but may deplete neural circuits associated with enhanced mood over time for some individuals.

Relationships: Savings or Taxes, Kindness:

  • Humans are social creatures who regulate each other's nervous systems through interactions.
  • Trust among team members predicts performance in work settings.
  • Social isolation and loneliness have negative effects on affect and well-being.
  • Acts of kindness not only benefit others but also generate a savings effect in our own body budgets.

Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter:

  • Zero-cost support refers to actions like leaving reviews on platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts or providing feedback on YouTube.
  • Sponsors play a crucial role in supporting the production of podcasts and other content.
  • Momentous is one of the sponsors mentioned in this episode.
  • Social media platforms provide additional channels for engagement and feedback.
  • The Neural Network Newsletter is another way to stay connected with the latest updates.